RailRoadFan.com

The Northwestern Railroad, a.k.a the "Virginia Creeper", is a short-line railroad that runs under the CS from Troutdale, VA, to West Jefferson, NC, where it connects to the CS mainline to Winston Salem, and the rest of the Carolina Southern System. So far, they operate only one loco, Carolina Southern SD45-2 #102, a rebuilt SD45-2 ordered from the TSCR which were purchased from M&N which were EX-ATSF SD45-2s (if my memory serves me correct.)

Im still confused, ordered from TSCR, purchased from M&N? Unless you mean the primemover for it. We have never had any SD45s of any kind.

The SD45-2's we sold CS were originally bought by TSCR in 1976 using Conrail specs.

ok, im sorry i just got confused.

Would you like to test one of our homebuilt units on the Northwestern? The unit is a CE-9. The CE-9 is built on the frame from an E9, but is turbocharged. They are free for your evaluation if you want. The other unit our Mt.Clare shops built is the CE-8, but unless anyone wants some, they are not in production. Post on the Mt.Clare thread for questions, concerns, comments, etc.

We would. We think it could be of a great use to us. Go ahead and send it down. We will contact the CS and see if they can drop it off to us in West Jefferson.

Ok, there is only 1 CE-9 at this moment. We'll send it down on Saturday. The Chessie System is testing it at the moment.

The CE-9 Chessie was testing has been returned to us. It will be sent this afternoon. It should reach you tomorrow. The CE-9 wears M&N colors and is numbered MNTX 20. #20 will be dropped off to the CS by CSX tomorrow.

Thank you. We hope the testing is good.

(From M&N) Change of plans, the Chessie is gong to take it down. They have trackage rights on CSX because they are partly owned by CSX.

(From Chessie System) We will send the CE-9 down to you. It will be towed behind GP9s 25 and 26. The should drop of the unit to the CS tomorrow evening.

How's the CE-9 working out? If you have any questions about it, post on the Mt.Clare thread. It was built at the Mt.Clare shops, the shop crew can answer any questions there.

The CE-9 is working out well. It has been popular with the public and the railfans in general. We appreciate the trial.

That's good. Here is some info on the CE-9: Like the CE-8, it is built on the frames of old, retired E-7 and E-8 locomotives. This CE-9 was built on an E-9 frame. It has 2 turbocharged 567 primemovers, but can be swapped out for a 12-645. The nose is from a GP40, but has been shortened. The cab is from a GP40. The hood is 2 GP20 hoods welded together. While it doesnt have dynamics, it can be built with them added if needed.

CE-9 #20:

CE-9 M&NTCo by C39-8, on Flickr

just checking up to see how the CE-9 is working out for you. There is no rush, But Chessie wants to demo it too.

It isn't working out good. The grades are so steep, even with the sander on, it had lots of wheel-slip, and i hit a car on it's second day. So far, we have not had much luck with it. We are sending it back to you now. The CS will carry it over to you.

Oh, sorry to hear about that. Our older CE-8s are heavier than the CE-9 and we built them specifically for mountain grades. We used them as helpers on the grueling Sand Patch grade during the quick diesel only roster. They are unturbocharged and put out 3500hp from 2 567 primemovers. The CE-8 weighs 750,000 lbs, that's 350,000lbs heavier than the CE-9. The reason we didnt offer it earlier is because the CE-8 is out of production, but we can build more if you want. There are B-units (CE-8B) as well and feature the same things as the A-unit, just minus the cab. However, the CE-8 is not built for speed.

The CE-8s that came from the M&N we are testing have turned out to be a fantastic addition to the road. We have placed an order for an A-B-A set.

your A-B-A set is ready to go, they will be heading your way on Monday.

the CE-8 A-B-A set will leave tomorrow night and head towards Roanoke.